Poker Night
by Khwaish
Summary: First fanfic. After much debate, this will not be deleted, and instead will sit untarnished on this page. Set sometime in season 5, but definitely treading AU waters. If you're wondering if I know that it is not that great, trust me, I know.


**Disclaimer: I don't own him. Too bad...**

**A/N: I finally figured out how to format. So yeah, this doesn't suck that much anymore. Enjoy!**

**Poker Night**

She picked up the ringing phone with a flourish.

"Hello, House's House of Whiners. State your complaint."  
Sadie grinned at the men on the couch, and was rewarded with a smirk and a chip shaped projectile. Her eyes widened as she heard the voice on the other line.

"Hello, Dr. Cuddy, I'm so sorry. I'm just fine, thank you. Yes, I am. You're welcome to join us, ma'am. No, not at all." She glared at her father, who was pointedly expressing his disapproval.

"He told me to invite you. I wouldn't if I didn't have permission. Well, not so many nice words, but you get the gist. No, thank you, I've got that covered. Dr. Cameron is coming early to help, at her own insistence. You're very welcome. Good afternoon."

"Why do you talk to her like that?" She was expecting this question, but not from its current asker.

"I respect my elders, Dr. Wilson. I might be the evil spawn of the Devil himself, but I do have manners." She smirked as the door was flung open.

"That you do," came another accented voice. "Of course, once you tell her to dispose of all formality, she takes it as license to to ream you out." Chase swooped in, carrying mysteriously lumpy plastic bags, and kissed a frowning Rao on the cheek. House, of course, looked delighted at the prospect of bitching that was against Chase's favor. He and Wilson greeted the ex-duckling with a nod.

"Right. Devil spawn and all that," was the answering quip. Sadie followed Chase into the kitchen and started to tug at the bags. "Eric's coming, right?"  
Chase looked up from the sorting.

He took a deep breath before replying.  
"I think so. He's... having a tough time right now. He doesn't think he needs House to goad him about it." He quickly realized who he was addressing, and started to backpedal. "Uh... not that I mean that..." He trailed off at her amused smirk.

"Rob, this is my father we are talking about. Of course he would. I'm just glad you came." He smiled at her. "Mind you, my motives for inviting you are purely selfish." His eyes widened in surprise, which did not escape Sadie's notice. Not that she would acknowledge it, of course. Not missing a beat, she continued, "I just wanted to have another outsider suffer with me. I mean, poker is so... pedestrian, when compared to rummy, isn't it?"

"_What now_?", came the call from the living room, interrupting any potential response. "You can just consider yourself uninvited to poker night, kid." House heaved himself up from the couch and padded into the kitchen, stopping just short of his daughter. "Seriously? Rummy? Next thing I know, you'll tell us to switch off the football and make us watch cricket." Wilson followed him in with a bark of laughter.

Sadie and Chase were glaring at the two men. Sadie broke the silence first.

"Gregory David House, insult rummy as much as you want, but one word about cricket, and you will be forcibly reminded of the fact that your cable provider and I are on first name basis." Chase smirked, happy to let Sara defend what amounted to religion in many countries. Allison Cameron chose that moment to make an entrance, and practically flounced into the kitchen.

"Hi, sorry I'm late. Sa, I stopped by the little Greek place you told me about, and they're gonna be making a delivery in about twenty minutes." She kissed Wilson and Chase on the cheek, and was promptly swept up by House and kissed feverishly.

"Ewwww! No making out in the kitchen. God, people. You're making us nauseous." Sadie dodged an effectively placed dishtowel, and made her way into the living room to answer the polite knocks.  
Eric Foreman stood on the other side, doing what can only be described as fidgeting. He was carrying a sack of ice, as he was greeted by Sadie throwing her arms around him.  
"My savior! I was just thinking about sending one of the boys to get some." She was rewarded with an awkward pat on the back and a smile.

Foreman nervously cleared his throat and stepped inside, saying, "You can never have enough ice. My mom always said that." Sadie ushered him into the kitchen, only to drag herself back into the living room twenty minutes later to answer the door for the next guest. Dr. Cuddy, dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a light green top, entered, and folded Sadie into her arms. She stiffened for just a moment, but let herself be hugged by the older woman. After kissing her cheek, and admonishing the younger woman's use of her formal title, Lisa Cuddy walked into the kitchen to greet everybody else. Wilson immediately descended on her, and enveloped her in a bear hug. All clatter slowed to a minimum, when Sadie smirked and turned to Chase. She extended her hand and wiggled her fingers, mouthing, "Pay up."

Chase stared at her, incredulous, but recovered enough to press a fifty into Sara's palm, which was supplemented by a fifty from House. She handed a bill to a grinning Cameron, who pocketed it, resolving to use part of it to pay the guy from the Greek restaurant, who was currently pounding on the door. Sadie cut her path with a good-natured glare, and went to pay for the food. Wilson and Cuddy had broken apart, and a tell-tale flush was spreading up her cheeks.

She cleared her throat, and said loudly, "So, what do I have to do to get a drink around here?  
House grinned and handed her a beer, which she promptly opened without a bottle opener. (The guys were impressed.)  
Sadie came back into the room and snapped everyone out of their collective reverie. "So! Poker, anyone?" Despite her earlier comments, she was excited; her father had spent the better part of the week coaching her in poker, and cluing her in to people's various tells.

A few hours later, Sadie, Cameron, and Cuddy found themselves lounging in the living room after blackmailing Wilson and Chase into cleaning up, which meant House and Foreman were dragged in against their will. Lisa leaned forward from her seat, giggling slightly. "So, Saadhna. Tell me... how is everything going? You've been living with your dad for how long now?"

"Almost a year," was the reply.

"How are you doing?" Sadie bristled at the concern in the older woman's voice, but her thoughts were stopped by a crash from the kitchen.

"As well as can be expected," was all she had time to say before taking off in the direction of the kitchen. Screaming was heard not moments later.

"James Evan Wilson, God help you if that's my favorite pot!"

Cameron smiled at her boss.  
"She's doing fabulously. Have you ever heard anyone use Wilson's middle name before?"

Lisa smirked knowingly,"You mean, has he ever let anyone use his middle name before?"

Foreman, being the first to escape the wreckage, entered, wincing and laughing. "Wilson has to be more than twice her age... you should have seen the look on his face!  
Even House looked scared.. I admit, when I first met her, I thought she wouldn't stick, but..." He trailed off, still smiling.

"She has," Cameron completed.  
"Yep," threw in Cuddy. Her smile was wistful at the thought that someone else had stepped in to keep the men in question in line... she knew it wasn't her job, but being replaced brought on a tinge of sadness she hadn't expected.

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Another A/N: This can now be considered a "future fic" or something akin to "missing scenes", because I'm starting to develop the aforemetioned epic. R&R!


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